Gas guard



Dec. 20, 1955 F. H. BUNNELL GAS GUARD 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 6,1951 SEUR- Dec. 20, 1955 F. H. BUNNELL GAS GUARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EiledApril 6, 1951 INVENTOR /5' FrecZHBunneZZ 6 ANDRA/5v5 United StatesPatent GAS GUARD Fred H. Bunnell, Jackson, Mich.

Application April 6, 1951, Serial No. 219,718

1 Claim. (Cl. 48-193) lThis invention relates to a vented gas trap.

In gas conduits which are buried in the ground and are extended througha wall into a building, it frequently happens that gas leaks from thepipe and collects in the ground forming a pressure area which causes thegas to enter the building rather than to escape through some opening tothe atmosphere. lIt is, therefore, an object of this invention toprovide a trap which is adapted to substantially encompass the gasconduit adjacent the building wall and includes means for conducting thegas to the ground surface for venting the gas to the atmosphere.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a gas trap of thiskind a perforated collector plate within the trap which will preventdirt or other material from entering the collector chamber and therebyreducing the capacity of this chamber.

A further object of this invention is the construction of a perforatedcollector plate which supports the guard and the weight of the earthabove it, thereby not transmitting this load to the pipe. The collectorplate is laid just over the gas pipe, and the bearing area on both sidesof the pipe is the support for the structure, not the pipe itself.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a detailed side elevation partly broken away of a gas trapconstructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the device.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Figure3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figure2.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view partly broken away of the outer endof the trap.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 7 7 of Figure6.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 8 3 ofFig-ure 6.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 10 designates generally aninverted U-shaped housing which is adapted to engage over a gas servicepipe 11 which is extended through a building wall 12 and projectshorizontally from the wall 12 through the ground 13 within which thepipe 11 is embedded. The housing 10 is formed of an upper flathorizontal wall 14 and vertically disposed side walls 15. The side walls15 at a point upwardly from the lower edges thereof are each formed witha horizontally disposed shoulder 16 against which a gas collector plate17 is adapted to engage.

The collector plate 17 is provided with a plurality of ICC openings orperforatons 18, and in the applied position of the housing 10 about thegas pipe 11 the plate 17 is adapted to rest on the top of pipe 11. Thelplate 17 provides with the top wall 14 a gas collecting chamber 19within which any gas leaking from the pipe 11 or travelling therealongis adapted to be collected.

One end of the chamber 19 is closed by means of an end plate 20 securedto the top and side Walls of the housing 10 by means of fasteningdevices 21. The top wall 14 of the housing 10 terminates outwardly fromthe inner ends of the side walls 15 so as to form an opening 22 wherebythe chamber 19 may be communicated with a vertically disposed tubularVent member generally designated as 23. The vent member 23 is formed ofinner and outer walls 24 and 25 and opposite side walls 26.

The inner wall 24 is substantially longer than the outer wall 25 asshown in Figure 5 and projects downwardly against the inner end of thehousing 10 and closes the inner end of the gas collecting chamber 19.The tubular member 23 is rectangular in horizontal section and an upperextension tubular member 23a telescopes over the lower tubular member23. The upper tubular member 23a may be limited in its telescoping ofthe lower member 23 by means of the back-fill of earth.

The upper tubular member 23a has a cap or top plate 28 secured to theupper end thereof by fastening devices 29. The outer wall 30 of theupper tubular member 23a is formed with a T-shaped opening 31 ha'vingthe horizontal slot or opening 32 extending transversely across theupper end of the tubular member 23a and the stem or vertical slotportion 33 extending downwardly from the horizontal slot 32. The closureplate 24 as shown in Figure 3 projects at its outer edge beyond theouter wall 3ft as indicated at 34, and the projecting top portion or cap34 is formed with an elongated opening 35 through which a testing deviceor instrument may be extended and then extended through the verticalslot portion 33 into the vent tube formed by the telescoping tubesections 23 and 23a.

An extension housing member 10a is adapted to be coupled to the outerend of the housing 14) being of the same inverted U-shape as the housing10, and a perforate extension plate f 17 bears against inner shoulders16a formed in the side walls 15a of the extension housing 10a. Theextension housing 16a is frictionally connected or coupled to the innerhousing 10 by means of an inverted U -shaped coupling member 36 which isof inverted U-shape and is formed with a pair of oppositely extendingand laterally spaced apart slots 37.

The coupling member 36 is adapted to be substantially friction tightwithin the collecting chamber 19a formed in the extension member 10a andalso to be friction tight within the inner collecting chamber 19. Bymeans of the resilient or friction coupling 36 the horizontal pipeencompassing housing 10 may be extended to any desired distance alongthe length of pipe 11.

in the use of this gas trap the housing 1t) is applied over the gas pipe11, and the telescoping vent members 23 and 23a are mounted on the innerend of the housing 10. The side walls 26 of the lower vent member 23project downwardly over the side walls 15 of the housing 10, and thelower end of the inner wall 24 which projects downwardly below thechamber 19 is formed with a slot 38, and a pair of spacer bars 39 aresecured to the outer sides of the extensions of the inner Wall 24 Withtheir outer faces aligned with the outer face of the member 23a so thatthe inner wall 24 will be vertically disposed, and the upper vent member23a may also be vertically disposed and in substantial contactingrelation with the outer side of the building wall 12. With the housing10 in substantial encompassing relation over the gas pipe 11 and thevent members or sections 23 and 23a projecting upwardly from the housing10, any gas which might escape from the pipe 11 within the area of thehousing 10 or the extension housing 10a will be collected within thecollecting chamber 19, and this gas will then rise upwardly through thevent members 23 and 23a until the gases are discharged from the uppervent member 23a through the T-shaped opening 31.

The perforated plate 17 within the housing 10 provides a means wherebydirt or other clogging material will be prevented from entering theupper collecting chamber 19 of the housing so that this housing will bekept open and unobstructed for the reception of any gas or gases whichmay creep along the pipe 11 or may be discharged from this pipe 11 byreason of a leaky connection, crack or the like.

What is claimed is:

A gas trap for mounting about a gas pipe, said trap comprising a housinghaving a hoiizontal top wall and spaced vertical depending walls, theinner sides of each vertical wall having a horizontal shoulder, aperforated plate in said housing bearing against said shoulder andforming with the top wall of said housing a gas collecting chamber; saidplate adapted to overlie the top of said pipe, an end wall secured tosaid housing between said plate and the top wall of said housing, avertically disposed vent tube having front and rear Walls rising fromthe end of said housing, said rear wall comprising an eX- tension ofsaid end wall, said vent tube having a closed upper end and a T-shapedslot in the upper end of said front wall adjacent said closed end, saidvent tube communicating at its lower end with said gas collectingcharnber, said T-shaped slot permitting the insertion of an instrumentinto said chamber and the escape of gas therefrom.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 315,082Stutz Apr. 7, 1885 315,363 Westinghouse Apr. 7, 1885 315,443 Randol Apr.7, 1885 320,002 Ricketts June 16, 1885 321,637 Pew July 7, 1885 342,143Smith May 18, 1886 1,804,896 Sullivan May 12, 1931 2,160,748 Maynard May30, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 337,879 Great Britain Nov. 13, 1930

